Need RC car hobbyist help! Thinking about getting my nephew a Tamiya TT-02

Silence

Silence

Has bad taste
So my nephew in 2nd grade really loves remote control cars but he currently only has dinky disposables right now that don't do much. So I thought a nice TT02 would make him happy and would have the flexibility to grow with him. I know these things have a lot of moving parts but his father is very handy and the kid is very advanced for his age and has all sorts of things that he's put together himself including a rather fancy train set.

These kits need assembly but also seem to require additional items... so the question is what are these items and are there specific recommendations for or against particular models? I'll be spending a good bit of money anyways so I'd rather get them nice bits rather than wasting money on bad parts. Thanks in advance! :thumbup

Or am I crazy and should I get him some other RC kit? (possibly off-road)
 
PhoS

PhoS

[ˈfäs]
Crazy.

Get him something ready to run from Traxxas, like a rally car or stadium truck. He'll have more fun bashing off road and they make quality stuff that will hold up.
 
mrmarklin

mrmarklin

Well-known member
I used to be very into this hobby.

The big three brands are Traxxas, Associated Electrics and Losi.

I believe all make RTR kits. AE used to dominate the hobby as far as technology etc.

Tamiya are essentially toy like.
 
/dev/null

/dev/null

taking a wrong turn
I've run Kyosho, Tamiya and Associated in 1/10 offroad buggies. I wouldn't buy Tamiya for anything but light use. I had tons of problems with things like hubs cracking. Also, based on experience too many adjustable parts detract from the experience for newbies. It's much better to be in the 'what can I tweak to increase performance' mindset than the 'what do I need to change to make it stable' mindset.

I'd go with a nitro 2wd car instead of electric. You get more use out of them. Stay away from 4wd electric initially for a few reasons; parasitic power loss, 2x the gear boxes to maintain and 2x the gear boxes to break. Once you're done buying engines, batteries, battery charger and maybe an esc you'll be at the same price point as an entry level Nitro version.

You can't go wrong with Associated or Losi but you pay for the quality. Kyosho USA has some decent lower end offerings.

Also, don't take your nephew to a track unless you don't like his parents.
 
injun

injun

Well-known member
Back in the day I had a tire company for RC cars and trucks so we had everything almost all models for testing tires, all foam dirt track and paved, as far as support I would have to say Losi or associated, there like the small block chev of RC.
Stick with electrick so the kid can start off on the lawn or even the house when he gets some control, if he gets into it then you can step up on the electrics and batteries.
If you go with brush motors PM me as I still have about 3-500 brush sets of all kinds.
The kits are not hard to do plus he learns how to fix things it's a good thing!
 
dbatman

dbatman

Well-known member
mrmarklin said:
I used to be very into this hobby.

The big three brands are Traxxas, Associated Electrics and Losi.

I believe all make RTR kits. AE used to dominate the hobby as far as technology etc.

Tamiya are essentially toy like.
Click to expand...

+1 on this perspective.
I would add HPI to the mix as well.
http://www.towerhobbies.com/products/hpi/hpid2862.html
My son and I had HPI RS4 nitro stadium trucks , beat the snot out of them . Only issues were damage from crashes with immovable objects. Very reasonable repair costs.
 
KWeezyXB12

KWeezyXB12

SKRRRRRRRRRRRT!!!!!!
Traxxas latrax sst. It's a 1/18 scale has a beginner mode sport and race as well. I have it for my smallish backyard and it's fun. 4wd too and scoots pretty good. I haven't done it yet but the hobby shop recommended changing the wiring to run a cheaper better faster charging battery. Charge time is about 2-3 hours run time is 10-15 minutes. No option for a fast charger without changing the ends. https://latrax.com/products/sst

It's cheap and durable too. Parts are cheap. Recommend getting spare shocks. The stock ones are only 14$ A pair
 
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Critter

Critter

A car in space...hmmmm.
One of my best memories as a kid was my brother showing up with a Tamiya Monster Beetle kit on my B day. We turned that into our regular thing during summers and I can still build one from memory! Don't get an RTR help him build it!
 
Sharky

Sharky

Well-known member
/dev/null said:
I've run Kyosho, Tamiya and Associated in 1/10 offroad buggies. I wouldn't buy Tamiya for anything but light use. I had tons of problems with things like hubs cracking. Also, based on experience too many adjustable parts detract from the experience for newbies. It's much better to be in the 'what can I tweak to increase performance' mindset than the 'what do I need to change to make it stable' mindset.

I'd go with a nitro 2wd car instead of electric. You get more use out of them. Stay away from 4wd electric initially for a few reasons; parasitic power loss, 2x the gear boxes to maintain and 2x the gear boxes to break. Once you're done buying engines, batteries, battery charger and maybe an esc you'll be at the same price point as an entry level Nitro version.

You can't go wrong with Associated or Losi but you pay for the quality. Kyosho USA has some decent lower end offerings.

Also, don't take your nephew to a track unless you don't like his parents.
Click to expand...

First time hobby kid does not need the hassle with nitro.
 
Silence

Silence

Has bad taste
Critter said:
One of my best memories as a kid was my brother showing up with a Tamiya Monster Beetle kit on my B day. We turned that into our regular thing during summers and I can still build one from memory! Don't get an RTR help him build it!
Click to expand...

This effect is pretty much what I'm going for. :thumbup
 
Hooli

Hooli

Big Ugly
Sharky said:
First time hobby kid does not need the hassle with nitro.
Click to expand...

+1

That was some of the worst advice I've ever heard. :laughing

A newbie to the RC car hobby will easily get frustrated trying to tune even a single-needle rotary carb. He'll also go through a card of glow plugs in one afternoon as well, and I guarantee that the engine will run so rich it'll dump raw fuel out the pipe right onto his clothes when he picks up the car the wrong way. :p Trust me...I've been there. ;)

Electrics are much more beginner-friendly, quieter, easier to "tune" (setting the ESC via a small pot, and so much less of a hassle than nitro that it isn't even funny. Sumi, you might want to take a gander at Traxxas...aimed towards beginners and damn near every hobby shop carries their products. :thumbup
 
NorCalAthlete

NorCalAthlete

O_o
Sharky said:
First time hobby kid does not need the hassle with nitro.
Click to expand...

Hooli said:
+1

That was some of the worst advice I've ever heard. :laughing

A newbie to the RC car hobby will easily get frustrated trying to tune even a single-needle rotary carb. He'll also go through a card of glow plugs in one afternoon as well, and I guarantee that the engine will run so rich it'll dump raw fuel out the pipe right onto his clothes when he picks up the car the wrong way. :p Trust me...I've been there. ;)

Electrics are much more beginner-friendly, quieter, easier to "tune" (setting the ESC via a small pot, and so much less of a hassle than nitro that it isn't even funny. Sumi, you might want to take a gander at Traxxas...aimed towards beginners and damn near every hobby shop carries their products. :thumbup
Click to expand...

+10000. Went through this myself as well, had an HPI Nitro MT Racer stadium truck. Dumped so much time and effort just into tuning and running I never really got to enjoy it and eventually sold it. Electrics were just as fast and a hell of a lot simpler at the time (10 years ago or so). And it's easy to hot swap batteries, just buy a few packs, charge them all before you go out. There's chargers that'll do 3-4 packs at once.
 
Hooli

Hooli

Big Ugly
NorCalAthlete said:
+10000. Went through this myself as well, had an HPI Nitro MT Racer stadium truck.
Click to expand...

Haha, I remember those. People hated the first generation trucks because they kept snapping dogbones.

HPI%20NitroMT.jpg


These days, what with brushless motors and LiPo batteries, it's far too easy to overpower an electric RC vehicle. In fact the land speed record is held by an electric car. :wow So electric off-road power is more than sufficient for 90% of operators. :thumbup
 
NorCalAthlete

NorCalAthlete

O_o
Hooli said:
Haha, I remember those. People hated the first generation trucks because they kept snapping dogbones.

HPI%20NitroMT.jpg


These days, what with brushless motors and LiPo batteries, it's far too easy to overpower an electric RC vehicle. In fact the land speed record is held by an electric car. :wow So electric off-road power is more than sufficient for 90% of operators. :thumbup
Click to expand...

Dog bones, bent half shafts, and FUCK that little .15 engine. So many tuning issues, flooded engines, shitty glow plugs, etc.
 
Sharky

Sharky

Well-known member
All you have to do is search on CL for RC car and more than half are nitro cars (even though far less nitro cars are sold compared to electric) and are dirt cheap compared to nice brushless/lipo setups.

My car will run 30-45 minutes per battery. After two, you are pretty much tired anyways.
 
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